There are a coupple things to think about after you do your 1st DH race. Dou you need a DH specific bike or something more like a FR/DH bike. For most courses 6-7 inches travel is pleanty enough. A dedicated DH bike will run you over 2 G's & is designed to race DH.

are K2 bikes any good...do real racers ride them?......rei has some on sale with hydraulic brakes and blah blah for like 1g..... but i havnt heard of people riding them......all i mostly hear about is kona, specialized, iron horse, and yeti, and scott

are K2 bikes any good...do real racers ride them?......rei has some on sale with hydraulic brakes and blah blah for like 1g..... but i havnt heard of people riding them......all i mostly hear about is kona, specialized, iron horse, and yeti, and scott

Are you looking to race CHDH?

You should come out & ride Dominican this Sat in SR. You ever riden Pacifica?

You need to get out & ride some real trails beffor you get head over heals into buying a DH bike or attempting to race DH. I live across the bay in Pinole & work in Sausalito. If you can get your dad to take you to San Rafael next Sat we will be riding by Dominican College. Depending on your height i can let you ride a FS, Full Suspension, 5in travel bike. It is a loop that generally takes about 2 hours.

but i read that the bike shop off hwy1 in pacifica can tell me where to go to boyscout and crack, and that those 2 trails are pretty close to some firewood trails....and you can bike there from the shop i think?

but i read that the bike shop off hwy1 in pacifica can tell me where to go to boyscout and crack, and that those 2 trails are pretty close to some firewood trails....and you can bike there from the shop i think?

You really dont want to ride Crack or Mile till you get more experience. Dominican is a sweet place to test your skills.

Now now, not all downhill bikes are over 2gs, the vast majority of them are, but if you search long and hard you can find some killer deals. start out looking at the Iron Horse Yakuza Type R you can get an 06 model with really good parts for around 1600. Check out performancebikes.com

Now now, not all downhill bikes are over 2gs, the vast majority of them are, but if you search long and hard you can find some killer deals. start out looking at the Iron Horse Yakuza Type R you can get an 06 model with really good parts for around 1600. Check out performancebikes.com

its a great bike, I race mine

He needs to get out & ride some real trails & find out what he really wants. Looking at pictures, vids & those sex long legged DH bikes will tempt anyone. He lives near me & i am offering him the chance to ride a FS bike & se what he is capable of. I have brought many to the dark side of gravity but it's good to know there skills & develop them. Spending 1500 on a bike he may only get to rid 2 times on a DH course & the rest riding Golden Gate park is a waste of money.

Im not knocking your suggestion, it is a excelent choice. Just thinking with the big head.

That Kona is probibly worth about 1100, wheels are the best thing on it.

Buying a used rental bike would scare the crap out of me. Would you take pains to keep a rental in great shape? Me neither. Maintence is probably pretty shoddy (though Whistler is probably better than most), and it's been ridden by lots of people who don't give a crap about keeping in in good shape.

I'm with dogonfr, you need to do some more riding and figure out what really floats yer boat. A full on DH bike probably dosn't make sense as your only bike, since it's going to really suck for doing anything other than racing DH. Pedaling uphill? Forget it. Somthing more versatile, like an Iron Horse 7point, Ibex Zone, Kona Stinky, etc might be a better choice.

sorry for all the questions, but relly dont know much, and Im trying to get into the sport so any info helps

The begining is 4x because there are 4 riders at a time racing a twisty short course. Then there are babes, woohoo. Now you have DH with sweet crash footage because that is what you will be doing at first.

It's just easy to cram all the linkage bits in there without a seat tube in the way. It's also a potential way to make really short chainstays, without having tire-seat tube interverence under full compression of the rear shock, because there isn't any seat tube to rub the tire on.

HAHAHAHA .....ok.............. i think 850$ for that big hit might not be a bad price

in my position, would you go for it?...or why not?

try and get a 2006 and above cause the ones before that had a 24" rear wheel... I dont like Specialized either. Big corporate company which steps on the little guys and the guys who helped them to the top... they've got nice bikes though...

Nope just a fan of good Customer Service & a sweet product, not to mention im cheep so a great deal on a bike is always right up my alley. Like my Son HAB said i have 2 of them as well as a Versus Blitz II.

Nope just a fan of good Customer Service & a sweet product, not to mention im cheep so a great deal on a bike is always right up my alley. Like my Son HAB said i have 2 of them as well as a Versus Blitz II.

I think my next bike might be an ibex ...... they seem decent, and 1/2 the price of other companies

.......but i think i gotta ride some more, see iff I'm more into freeride or downhill; but I think I'm more downhill oriented as I dont think I'd like to throw myself of a cliff while just happening to be on a bike

another dumb question: can you use freeride bikes to ride downhill and vice versa, or are they too much different?

I think my next bike might be an ibex ...... they seem decent, and 1/2 the price of other companies

.......but i think i gotta ride some more, see iff I'm more into freeride or downhill; but I think I'm more downhill oriented as I dont think I'd like to throw myself of a cliff while just happening to be on a bike

another dumb question: can you use freeride bikes to ride downhill and vice versa, or are they too much different?

too bad Ibex has stopped making their full on FR/DH bike already. It wasnt well accepted til the end of it's 06. Ibex did not really have the market for full FR/DH bikes. They werent selling until after they had been discontinued. That was when people finally found out how good they were. They are however in the AM market and doing very well and will be making a comeback for the FR scene with a 6" AM/FR bike... Here's a pic of my Ibex Zone. If you weigh under 135lbs, then you're more then welcomed for a test ride too. Though mine is much beefier then what Ibex initially made it...

yes, why?
i have a customer with two kids that have thrashed every single bike they have bought from us. their most recent purchase was a pair of BH1's that they take out to pacifica/montara a few times a week to ride the the trails and so far both bikes have held up great. i believe that the bike normally went for 1300 or so when they were out in 2006 so for 8 something i think its a good deal.
i know he was also looking at the giant but its a little more money. i do like the maestro link that comes on the bike because its ability to take a square hit better but i personally havent had any problems with the FSR suspension system.

yes i ride during the week too and will be riding more often during the week at moeser or sideo cause i'm gonna be house sitting for my teacher for a month who lives like 5 minutes from moeser and 10 minutes from downtown berkeley... XD

yes, why?
i have a customer with two kids that have thrashed every single bike they have bought from us. their most recent purchase was a pair of BH1's that they take out to pacifica/montara a few times a week to ride the the trails and so far both bikes have held up great. i believe that the bike normally went for 1300 or so when they were out in 2006 so for 8 something i think its a good deal.
i know he was also looking at the giant but its a little more money. i do like the maestro link that comes on the bike because its ability to take a square hit better but i personally havent had any problems with the FSR suspension system.

When you go to the link it comes up with 3 models so rather than assume it is better to ask. Smokin deal first thing to go would have to be the brakes though. For the price the brakes fit perfect but performance wise gotz to go when the money is saved up.

i'll say the brakes are "ok". i took the two bikes i just worked on for a test ride and the felt like they broke in pretty good but the power was a little on the low side for having 8" rotors. my first gen hayes (1999?) have a little more bite than the Soles but you have to take into consideration that the pads are tiny. each one is about the size of a dime.
one good thing about the brakes is how easily they can be adjusted. both sides have a set up similar to the Avid bb7. you can tune the pad contact with a 5mm allen in a second. i guess it doesnt really matter on the trail but from a mechanics point of view i appreciate their simplicity.

alrite guys...........today i went for my first time to the trails in pacifica......IT WAS F-ING GREAT

theres like a jump every like 30 feet....holy crapsicles .....i mean really, it was that great

.....but it took a tole on my hardtail...screwed up my seat mount....no doubt in my mind i want a fs bike

and i only bailed once....i was going to slow, and the ramp was about 6ft. up, but i landed short of the landing area/pad or wutever its called, and hit my precios testees on the hard, cold, but mostly hard metal frame

i'll say the brakes are "ok". i took the two bikes i just worked on for a test ride and the felt like they broke in pretty good but the power was a little on the low side for having 8" rotors. my first gen hayes (1999?) have a little more bite than the Soles but you have to take into consideration that the pads are tiny. each one is about the size of a dime.
one good thing about the brakes is how easily they can be adjusted. both sides have a set up similar to the Avid bb7. you can tune the pad contact with a 5mm allen in a second. i guess it doesnt really matter on the trail but from a mechanics point of view i appreciate their simplicity.

Raptordude made a really nice comment on the DH/FR forum about the Hayes 9's,
Quote Once you point your bike downhill and want to brake, Hayes Nines officially suck. unQuote.
Sole's are worse than 9's. But we are talking a price point here & not quality. There is a huge difference between the two & most people forget that.